The Least Among us Are the Greatest; Welcoming the Children

Today's Reading:

• Luke 9:28 - 50
• Psalm 73:1 - 28

Read Bible Passages Online

Luke 9:28 - 50

"Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me also welcomes my Father who sent me.  Whoever is the least among you is the greatest."

This quote is verse 9:28 and is spoken by Jesus to his disciples.  The disciples had been arguing over who was the greatest disciple, and this was Jesus' response to their argument.  On the surface this verse seems to say (to me anyways) that those who welcome the children -- the innocent, the mold-able --  in the name of Jesus welcomes him.  Well, that most certainly would be true.

My study bible points out something more to this verse.  It says that in Jesus' day, children were viewed as their parent's property and had no social status within the community.  Hence children were being compared to the lowest and most vulnerable children in the community. 

Just like Jesus befriended the tax collectors and other people of lowly status in his time, so must we remember that the people we deem to be lowly -- prisoners, the homeless, people with addiction problems, people on welfare, people who are straight out disagreeable -- these are the people that Jesus wants us to reach.  It's a beautiful thing to be able to worship with Christians in church on Sunday, to hang out with them during the week, and to socialize with them.  Beyond that, however, we have to remember to show the love of Jesus to those we are most inclined to turn away from. 

Psalm 73:1 - 28
This is the first Psalm in the third book of Psalms.  It is a psalm of Asaph -- a person I do not yet know anything about.  The psalm speaks from the heart of a person who is trying to understand why the wicked prosper and the godly struggle. 

The writer of this psalm says that he used to envy the wicked and struggled not to abandon the Lord.  In the end, however, he realized that the destiny of those boastful, wealthy, wicked people was nothing but a path to destruction. 

This psalm was a great reminder that we are not alone in our struggles of remaining close to the Lord while the seemingly unworthy people prosper.  Let this psalm serve as a reminder that this is not just a problem of our day, and we are not the only ones to struggle with this.  The path of those who are wicked always leads to destruction -- always.  Our path leads to eternal life.  And to quote Jesus in verse 9:28 listed above: "Whoever is the least among you is the greatest."  The inverse to that implies that the seemingly greatest are the ones who are the least among us.

Welcoming the Children in the Name of Jesus

Today’s Reading:
• Mark 9:30 - 10:12
• Psalm 44:1 - 8

Read Bible Passages Online

Mark 9:30 - 10:12
The disciples of Jesus were arguing over which one of them was the greatest.  Jesus told them that it is he who serves all the others that is the greatest.  Jesus then tells them that those who welcome children in his name welcome him (9:37).

My study bible points out something important in understanding verse 9:37.  It says that children were not perceived the same way they are now -- adorable and innocent.  Instead they were perceived as weak and inferior, so those that were welcoming the children were serving what others saw as the weak and the inferior.

Of course we should still welcome our children in the name of Jesus.  Jesus knew what general society avoided realizing at the time -- children were not these weak, inferior creatures -- these children were blank slates and they were the future, and raising them in the name and love of Jesus would forever shape their lives and the lives of the people they would interact with throughout their journey through life.

Jesus then goes on to say that it is better to hang a millstone around your neck and be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these children to fall into sin (9:42).  Reading these verses make me realize that we do pass our sins along to our children.  All that we do and say is an example that our children tend to eventually follow.  This isn't true in all cases, of course, and some examples are more extreme than others.  The bottom line is that our children learn how to interpret and interact with the world from us.

So this reading makes me reflect on the examples I set for my children.  I certainly am trying to raise them in the Lord, more so now than ever before.  I try to pass along examples of kindness, generosity and open-mindedness.  But what else do I pass along?  What things do I struggle with that I don't want my children to be afflicted with?

I am thankful that I am undergoing this reflection of my life against the Word of God while my kids are still young.  I'll never be a perfect parent or a perfect example, but I can always aim to correct the areas where the examples I set are out of alignment with the examples that the Lord wants me to set for my children.  Thank you Lord!

Psalm 44:1 - 8 

6  I do not trust in my bow; I do not count on my sword to save me.

7  You are the one who gives us victory over our enemies; you disgrace those who hate us.

The bible is full of hard lessons for us to take in when we truly use it as a measure against our lives.  One of those lessons that pops up all over the place is learning to let the Lord fight our battles for us.  The things which we claim in our name name mean nothing at all and are soon lost.  The things obtained by the Lord are perfect and everlasting.

Conclusion
I am now about one-sixth of the way through!  I am so thrilled that the Lord has kept me on track for this long -- I have published a post each and every day for 116 days in a row!  I have had doubts about my ability to keep up with such an extensive project.  There are many times that I wish I could just read the bible on a given day instead of writing a post that publicizes all I am thinking.  But in the end I'm better off for it.  It forces me to truly reflect on what the bible is saying to me within a passage.

There are many days when I read a passage and I think, "What am I going to write about for this?"  And then I wind up writing a long post that really caused me to flesh out my feelings and expand upon what I read.  Today was one of those days.  I thank the Lord for seeing me through this far, and I pray that He keeps me on track and gives me the stamina to finish out this two year long project.